“Isn’t it disgraceful!” exclaimed Bet. “Jack and I never want to associate with plants that murder and steal——”
“Not if we can help it,” said Jack, “we don’t.”
“You’ll be sorry,” he went on, “to learn that Indian pipes, too, are uninvited guests, living on food in other plant roots.”
“Oh,” said Mary Frances regretfully, “I always thought them so pretty!”
“Well, they are pretty, and dodder, even, is pretty in a way, because of its yellow color, but both are—
Parasite Plants
Parasite means “eating at another’s table.”
Parasite plants are those which fasten upon other plants and steal their food.
Real parasite plants lack all green color, for since they steal food already digested, what need have they for green matter (chlor-o-phyll) by means of which a plant digests its food?
There are also some half parasites, which, while living partially upon stolen food, get some food for themselves.